GenderEvolve - Transgender Transformation

When the legendary beauty icon Audrey Hepburn was asked to share her "beauty tips", she gave the following advice: For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

By Brianna Austin Life had changed forever on that first day, when I stepped into those dainty shoes that gracefully extended the arch of my foot. A feeling washed through me like none I have ever experienced before, and it would tease and confuse me for decades to come. I walked tentative at first, and then with a sway of confidence that transformed my very being, or perhaps released that which was there all along. With each tear, devoid of the pretense that manhood often dictates, I could see myself for the first time, and life was beautiful. I could hear the heartbeat of life all around me and now touch those emotions that had previously been only for the viewing -- protected, or trapped, behind the glass wall – always in sight, never within reach. Emerging from behind the mask of a life not truly mine, yet inadvertently one of my own design, I stood naked before the world, refreshed and unafraid. I was confronted with the truth of me, as only I knew it, while others could only lo...

By Brianna Austin Prose of love and loss like angel’s song and tiger’s fury, convey gentler days and a quest for living: it breathes before me. Sometimes in awe, I’ve stood witness to gentle inspiration evolve into glory on the run. And, if this be the choice of the undecided, then forsaken me, for I too sought the prize. Lives were revealed in grand and subtle ways. Brought forth on the wings of hope – and love - love is always present. Without it fear is all that exists and what purpose could that serve? Except, of course, to keep love and courage honest and true. And love, a most peculiar thing. It echoes through the hallways, floating on the tongues of devils yet nurtured in the womb of sanity. It is everywhere, yet nowhere. It’s in everything, and yet nothing at all -- except the vapor of an idea that ran through me once, that calls from time to time. As for me, I’m neither sinner nor saint. I’m the observer watching the story unfold in the eyes of the innocent. Providing commenta...

It comes when you are not looking from out of dark placesand in moments of unknowing protects you from …..you Should I lash out or strike back? Is it the madness that makes me want to… or is it the madness that I don't. And if I do, who is the beneficiary? Life inhales and exhales such confusion. Friends are enemies and enemies are friends, leaving you to untangle the webs of illussion and stand naked and cold. But, I see light, a feeling to follow, somewhere, anywhere just not here. Here the madness taunts & teases. Demons are in the air but they’re not mine, they’re someone else's on loan. Copyright 2002 Brie Austin

Have you ever seen circus elephants? These big magnificent animals who are capable of lifting hundreds of pounds and 'knocking over tall buildings' are teathered to a small stake in the ground. Do you ever wonder why they just don't pull up the stake and run away? Well, when they were just little baby elephants, the circus would teather them, not to a small stake, but to a hugh pole in the ground. So, as weak little baby elephants, they did not have the strenght to pull the pole free. They soon learned that their movement was limited by the length of their chains. Once they felt the tension from the chain being stretched tight, they stopped and backed up. This limitation remained imposed in their minds even after they reached adulthood. At a time in their life when they could easily pull the stake out of the ground and escape, they docilely stop when they feel the tension of the chain. Is this the same thing that society does those of us who are transgendered? Our chains of...

The challenges ahead and current status of the Mexican TS Movement Transsexual people exist and they can be found, as any other person, in every field of the human sphere, both public and private. They are housewives, students, aviation pilots, company owners, dancers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, neighbors and related others. Men and women with an imposed label, human beings just as any other except in regard of their gender/sexual identity variance. This is because, unlike the majority of the population, in which their physical body matches fully with their self-identification as man or woman, in the transsexual population the body does not match with their brain-determined sex. That is why turns out to be necessary not a change of sex, but an adjustment that enables a match between the body and the brain in order to achieve a minimum of harmony and peace with their true sexual identity. In other words, the appearance (genitalia and other characteristics) ...

Recently a reader of GenderEvolve criticized the site as "nonsense". She also said that our intrepid moderator Michele was in the "Twilight Zone." It is important to understand that the critic is a contrarian who thinks that there is entirely too much positivity within the transgender community this site being a prime example. I have spent a lot of time over the last two days thinking about this. At first I was angry over what I thought was an unjustified attack on our moderator. But then I began to realize that fantasy, nonsense, too much positivity and being in the twilight zone was not such a bad thing after all . We spend much of our fun time in this fantasy world. Cd's shower, shave, choose an outfit, put on makeup and put on a wig to create an illusion of the woman of their dreams. I like doing karaoke once in a while. You get up in front of the mike, sing and pretend you're a rock star. Turns out some of these karaoke singers are pr...

(by Michele Angelique) In rebuttal of the article "Receipt, Please?" by Helen Boyd, which criticizes use of the term "gender gifted", I wish to offer a differing perspective on the transgender phenomenon. I have a great deal of regard for Helen Boyd, and highly respect all that she has done and is continuing to do, for the transgender community. Yet in response to her view that transgenderism is an "insane state of affairs", her comparison of transgenderism to a disease like cancer, and point of "asking them to consider it a gift would more likely end up perverting the meaning of the word ‘gift’", I must respectfully object. Her perception that "transness, more often than not, is a kind of niggling annoyance (at least) when it’s ignored, or a major disruption, or, at worst, leads to straight-up tragedy. That’s not to say there aren’t positive things that can come out of transness for the transperson and the partner - of course there are. B...

A SISTERS POEM By Sumana ~~~~~~ She called to me, when I was so small. Alone in the dark, under my bed I crawl As a fetus I would curl, feeling the essence of her being In a magical sea, beyond my years in dreaming When the day broke to go outside The dream and waking life would soon collide It was her touch in so innocent a mind Making the truth crash with the world outside The world pushed me under to slowly drown But she left me something, that would not go down Like a lotus born under surface my life would go on Until one day a flower would feel the sun at dawn Like a jewel in the heart, the spirit she gave me Now I praise my goddess for all the world to see Her lesson is not only for those with a life stark Let the easy notice, that none should be in the dark Be youself, it will always be worth the cost If others see an illusion, u will not be the one lost Have faith! sometimes its a road with only you You have everything you need to make it through Truth is your light and love i...

So many of us suffer needlessly with feelings of low self-esteem, guilt, and embarrassment. That shouldn’t really be a surprise when our society is rooted in a belief system that has little room for anything or anybody outside the status quo. Most us were raised in that belief system. It’s ingrained in the depths of our subconscious and so to express ourselves outside the norm contradicts what we were taught. Larger groups, and even countries many times deal with conflicting views by killing each other – so apparently, the mainstream doesn’t appear to have all the answers either. After all, killing defies the very God that Christians, Muslims, and Jews (to name just a few) they say they worship. I was raised in a mixed religious household, both Jewish and Christian, which either makes me more confused, or less, I’m not sure which. I was at a family reunion during the 4th of July weekend and was -- in my brother’s absence -- confronted with questions, and fishing expeditions, as to how...

Human development spans a lifetime, at least for most individuals. Humans develop physically, cognitively, intrapsychically, socially, and spiritually throughout their lives with twists and turns and critical readiness periods as they shift into each successive phase of development. Piaget explored the cognitive development in humans while Kohlberg, more specifically, addressed how humans develop morally. Freud was concerned with psychosexual development and Erikson focused on how humans develop psychosocially. Developmental theorists typically posit that humans change qualitatively not just quantitatively from one stage to the next. For example, Piaget says that thinking becomes different as humans begin to learn primarily through touch and exploration of their environment then shift to the ability to symbolize and pretend and shift again to a focus on the concrete and real to a final shift to the ability to hypothesize, plan, and problem solve. Some theorists, like Gilligan believe t...

Happy Friday Beautiful Ladies! I have been most uplifted by the lovely emails that have been flowing among my GenderEvolve sisters this week. As most of the communication has taken place in our private domain at yahoo, I would like to give a public overview of the topics brewing behind the scenes, and invite my contributing sisters to post their material publicly, here on the GenderEvolve blogsite. I am proud that my GenderEvolve sisters recognized and discussed the International Women's Day on March 8th. I believe that transwomen can and should celebrate womanhood, including treating themselves as women, aligning with other women, and developing solidarity in femininity. This means recognizing women's issues, supporting women's causes, pondering femininism, and seeking ways to make a better world for women. Continue to do this, and over time genwomen will begin to recognize transwomen in a whole new light... one of peace, sisterhood and unity. I am delighted that one of ou...